Many kinds of containers, and particularly beverage containers, are placed in public view, both commercially and privately used, and therefore are appropriate for use as display surfaces for various kinds of advertising and promotion. Commercially, beverage containers are on display containing coffee and other beverages; privately, thermos bottles may be viewed by others while in use, both by way of example. The container wall itself however is ill suited to a display surface as it readily becomes marred and disfigured, and the printing matter itself is degraded, so that any such display is a poor display indeed for the subject matter of the advertisement or promotion. As yet however, no feasible and effective display surface has been proposed which may be attached to these beverage containers or other containers so as to adequately address the needs of current advertising and promotional standards.
In recent years, it has come to be recognized that old style coffee warmers and open coffee pots are not in the best interests of the delicate flavor characteristics of a good brew of coffee. To that end, vacuum pots of various shapes and descriptions have become increasingly popular and prevalent, especially in finer commercial coffee houses and restaurants. Such a pot preserves desirable coffee serving temperature with reduced risk of, and exposure to, either burner heat scorching or air oxidation of the coffee esters. They also generally hold more coffee, and can be made available for use and refills by customers in places that are not wired or not safe for warmer burners.
As mentioned, these pots are often highly visible to the customers and could become effective sign boards for the brand of coffee or any other advertising an owner may wish to display in conjunction with the service of the coffee or other beverage. However, with the passing of time and customer use and normal wear and tear (such as by dish washing operations), the vacuum pots themselves can take on unsightly dents and surface mars.
It has been suggested to permanently adhere a surface covering that is specially cut to fit the covering to the outside of the pot. This covering can hold or display various advertising or promotional messages and graphics. These covering systems however suffer from several disadvantages. Because they are permanently adhered to substantially the entire outside surface of the pot, they in effect become a second skin, and as such lose much if not all of the independent resiliency such a covering material might otherwise inherently have. Any blow or other force striking the skin will be transmitted to the pot as well, and any resulting deformation in the pot surface will also show on the tightly adhered covering skin. Also, if the advertising message becomes stale or otherwise out of date, or if the covering begins to show signs of wear or other distress, it must laboriously be removed in its entirety, leaving the pot covered in unsightly adhesive residue until it is recovered, and this operation must be repeated every time it is desirable to change the advertising message.
Other proposed covering systems require application of a heat shrinkable film to a container, with the disadvantages that such films are not readily, and certainly not non-destructively, removable, and rather less control of the kind and quality of printing that may be imprinted on the film, on its resultant resized surface, is possible compared with unshrunk covers.
Other covering system proposals disclose (1) a foam rubber beverage can insulator with flexible sidewall and bottom member with slits on the bottom for expansion and contraction; (2) a wastebasket, or other open container, cover with a flexible sheet to wrap around the side wall of the basket, and clips to detachably interconnect the top and bottom edges of the sheet to the open rims of the container, and Velcro type closures to hold the ends together; and (3) a loose fitting sock-like covering to fit over standing water cooler bottles and the like, or a free standing cylinder of rigid material resting on the cooler apparatus, with holes or viewing ports to show water level and provide air circulation inside the covering.
What is needed is a feasible and effective display surface which may be attached to beverage containers or other containers so as to adequately address the needs of current advertising and promotional standards. In addition, it would be desirable for such a display surface to be easily and readily removable and to possess independent resiliency (and not be just a second skin tight layer). The desired removable display surface would require only cover end attachment by releasable closures, and would provide an excellent base medium for commercial printing processes.